Punjab and Haryana HC stays quota for Jats, five other communities in Haryana

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the reservation for Jats and five other communities provided by the Haryana government.

The reservation for these communities was provided under a newly carved Backward Classes (C) category as per provisions of Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, 2016.

The court gave its ruling on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the above Act which was passed unanimously by the Haryana Assembly in March 2016.

The five other communities which were provided reservation under the Act were Jat Sikhs, Bishnois, Muslim Jats, Rors and Tyagis. They were entitled to 10 per cent reservation in government services and also admission to educational institutions.

Earlier the Supreme Court also had ruled that Jats could not be treated as backward, the state assembly had no right to pass the law.

However, the Supreme Court, in the case of Ram Singh and others versus the Union of India, held that Jats were not backward socially, educationally and politically.

Comment

The Act provided 10 per cent quota in government jobs and educational institutions, and 6 per cent in Class I and II posts. It was provided in exclusion to the already notified 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes (Block ­A and B) and 10 per cent to Economically Backward (EB) Persons. Thus, it had violated the reservation ceiling of 50 per cent imposed by the Supreme Court.